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New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Why do we have sex?

Definition

Why do we have sex?

The origin of sex, then, is a bit of a mystery. And if its origins are hard to understand, its function is just as baffling. At first sight that seems ludicrous. Surely sex has an obvious function: it generates variation, the raw material for evolution.

alien planet with three suns

Space

Planet in triple-star system may be our best chance to find alien life

News

Technology

Working hypothesis: from Raspberry Pi to abolishing time

News

Mars rover

Space

Unique chance to confirm methane spikes – and perhaps life – on Mars

News

How did life begin?

Question

How did life begin?

Blue Planet II’s Steve Simpson explores the sounds of the ocean

Blue Planet II’s Steve Simpson explores the sounds of the ocean

Video

mangrove forest

Environment

How climate change is hitting crab hunting in the mangroves of Brazil

Regulars

Mussaurus patagonicus

Life

Some baby dinosaurs crawled before learning to walk on two legs

News

Europa

Space

A simple experiment could help find alien life on Europa

News

Prepare to jump to light speed: Inside the mission to go interstellar

Space

Prepare to jump to light speed: Inside the mission to go interstellar

Proxima Centauri is 4 light years away. Ambitious space mission Breakthrough Starshot is developing a way to push spacecraft there at a fifth of the speed of light

Features

Space

Curiosity is entering what may be the best area to find life on Mars

News

Life

We could soon make animals with cells that contain two genetic codes

News

Space

We’ve found 4000 exoplanets but almost zero are right for life

News

Earth

Dead whale found with 40 kilograms of plastic in its stomach

News